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Detangle before shampoo with a pre-poo

For curls or coils that tangle before wash day, a detangling pre-poo can make the lengths easier to handle. Coat a small section first, gently free the ends, then rinse and complete your wash.

Step by step

  1. A woman takes a small amount of detangling pre-shampoo from a jar with clean fingertips before applying it.
    STEP 1 OF 11

    Take the product’s directed amount

    • Set the pre-poo, shampoo and your usual conditioner within reach. With clean hands, take the amount directed for your hair or section.
    • Put the container down before touching your hair. The photographed jar is one option; use the dispenser and amount on your own product.

    Start with loose, dry hair. Read the pre-wash directions first, including any salon-aftercare restrictions. The pictured dab is not a dose recommendation.

  2. Smoothing detangling pre-poo onto a dry loose section before working through snags.
    STEP 2 OF 11

    Coat one loose section

    • Gently separate a section you can hold in one hand. If a knot joins it to nearby hair, leave those strands together rather than pulling them apart dry.
    • Support the section with one hand and smooth pre-poo over its lengths and ends with the other. Coat the tangled area before trying to separate strands.

    Keep the product off your scalp. If the coated hair still feels too grabby to handle gently, stop; do not compensate by pulling harder.

  3. Supporting a product-coated section above the tips while fingertips gently release a small snag.
    STEP 3 OF 11

    Free the lowest snag with your fingers

    • Hold the section just above its lowest snag so it does not pull at your scalp. With the other fingertips, ease a few strands free at the edge of the snag.
    • Once those ends separate, move your supporting hand a little higher. Work in short stages, always releasing the ends below your hand before moving upward.

    Do not rake from roots to ends through resistance. Stop if the knot tightens or hurts. Fingers alone are enough if they gently clear the section.

  4. A woman supports a coated section above the ends and makes a short downward wide-tooth-comb pass through the tips.
    STEP 4 OF 11

    Optional: make short comb passes

    • Use a smooth wide-tooth comb only if the pre-poo allows it. Hold above the ends and make a short downward pass through the tips you have already loosened.
    • When that area clears easily, start the next pass a little higher. Lift the comb out as soon as it catches and gently check the snag with your fingers.

    Skip the comb if you prefer fingers. Coat and detangle the remaining sections the same way, keeping to the product’s total amount. Finish when each workable section clears gently, not after a fixed number of passes.

  5. A woman rests her hands on her lap while her pre-poo-coated curls hang loosely during the product’s waiting time.
    STEP 5 OF 11

    Check any remaining waiting time

    • Let the coated lengths rest loosely. Follow the product’s waiting instructions, including whether application and detangling count toward its contact time.
    • Do not automatically add a second full wait after detangling. If no wait is required, go straight to rinsing; do not extend the time to keep working on a knot.
  6. A woman rinses pre-poo from her lengths over a deep basin, holding a sprayer in one hand and opening the hair with the other.
    STEP 6 OF 11

    Rinse out the pre-poo

    • Set the water comfortably warm. Let it run through the lengths, gently opening sections so water reaches the hair underneath.
    • Rinse thoroughly as the pre-poo directs before adding shampoo. Check the inner lengths and ends where you applied the product.

    At a basin, hold a sprayer or clean rinsing cup in one hand and open the hair with the other. Refill a cup with clean water; put it down for two-handed adjustments. A fixed shower is another option.

  7. A woman massages shampoo over her scalp with finger pads while her wet curls hang into a basin and the sprayer rests in its holder.
    STEP 7 OF 11

    Massage shampoo over your scalp

    • Wet your scalp thoroughly. Put the sprayer or rinsing cup down if using one, then apply shampoo as its label explains.
    • Massage gently with finger pads around the front, sides, crown and nape.
    • Move the hair aside to reach underneath. Keep the lengths loose and follow any waiting time on the shampoo label; do not pile or scrub the curls together.
  8. A woman directs a handheld sprayer over her scalp while her other hand opens the curls and shampoo suds wash into the basin.
    STEP 8 OF 11

    Rinse away the shampoo

    • Run clean water over each scalp area and down the lengths. Open thick sections with your free hand so water reaches underneath.
    • Continue until visible suds are gone, checking behind the ears and at the nape. Repeat shampooing only if your product’s directions call for it.
  9. A woman supports wet curl ends with one hand and smooths conditioner over the lengths with the other above a basin.
    STEP 9 OF 11

    Apply your usual conditioner

    • If your product or wash routine includes rinse-out conditioner, apply its directed amount through the lengths and ends. Work one loose section at a time.
    • Support a section with one hand and smooth conditioner with the other. Pre-poo does not automatically replace this part of your wash.

    Steps 9–11 show rinse-out conditioner. If your wash instructions do not include it, finish after the shampoo rinse. A leave-in conditioner follows its own directions and is not rinsed out here.

  10. A woman rests her hands on the counter with conditioner-coated wet curls hanging loosely and the water off.
    STEP 10 OF 11

    Keep the conditioner’s waiting time

    • Release the lengths and keep them out of the water while the conditioner sits for the time on its label.
    • If no wait is given, continue to rinsing. Do not add heat or reuse the pre-poo’s waiting time for a different product.
  11. A woman directs a handheld sprayer through her hanging lengths while her other hand opens the ends to rinse conditioner.
    STEP 11 OF 11

    Rinse the conditioner from the lengths

    • Let clean water run through each section. Gently open the lengths so the inner strands rinse as well as the surface.
    • Follow the conditioner’s rinse directions until visible product is gone. Do not keep rinsing or rubbing to make conditioned hair feel squeaky.

    After washing, clear shed strands from your fingers or comb, clean the comb as directed and wipe slippery spills. Continue with your usual gentle drying routine.

About 15–35 minutes hands-on for application, gentle detangling and the complete wash, including conditioner if used. Add any remaining label waits. Drying takes additional time.

Editorial estimate for a familiar solo session, not a measured result or a deadline. Length, density, section count and tangles can take the work outside this range.

You’re done when…

The sections you could handle gently are detangled, the pre-poo is rinsed out and your shampoo and conditioner steps are complete. Stop working on any painful knot or mat; it does not need to be forced clear to finish safely.